path: root/docs/source/markdown/podman-create.1.md.in

% podman-create 1

## NAME
podman\-create - Create a new container

## SYNOPSIS
**podman create** [*options*] *image* [*command* [*arg* ...]]

**podman container create** [*options*] *image* [*command* [*arg* ...]]

## DESCRIPTION

Creates a writable container layer over the specified image and prepares it for
running the specified command. The container ID is then printed to STDOUT. This
is similar to **podman run -d** except the container is never started. You can
then use the **podman start** *container* command to start the container at
any point.

The initial status of the container created with **podman create** is 'created'.

Default settings for flags are defined in `containers.conf`. Most settings for
remote connections use the server's containers.conf, except when documented in
man pages.

## IMAGE

  The image is specified using transport:path format. If no transport is specified, the `docker` (container registry)
transport will be used by default. For remote Podman, including Mac and Windows (excluding WSL2) machines, `docker` is the only allowed transport.

  **dir:**_path_
  An existing local directory _path_ storing the manifest, layer tarballs and signatures as individual files. This
is a non-standardized format, primarily useful for debugging or noninvasive container inspection.

    $ podman save --format docker-dir fedora -o /tmp/fedora
    $ podman create dir:/tmp/fedora echo hello

  **docker://**_docker-reference_ (Default)
  An image reference stored in  a remote container image registry. Example: "quay.io/podman/stable:latest".
The reference can include a path to a specific registry; if it does not, the
registries listed in registries.conf will be queried to find a matching image.
By default, credentials from `podman login` (stored at
$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/containers/auth.json by default) will be used to authenticate;
otherwise it falls back to using credentials in $HOME/.docker/config.json.

    $ podman create registry.fedoraproject.org/fedora:latest echo hello

  **docker-archive:**_path_[**:**_docker-reference_]
An image stored in the `docker save` formatted file. _docker-reference_ is only used when creating such a
file, and it must not contain a digest.

    $ podman save --format docker-archive fedora -o /tmp/fedora
    $ podman create docker-archive:/tmp/fedora echo hello

  **docker-daemon:**_docker-reference_
  An image in _docker-reference_ format stored in the docker daemon internal storage. The _docker-reference_ can also be an image ID (docker-daemon:algo:digest).

    $ sudo docker pull fedora
    $ sudo podman create docker-daemon:docker.io/library/fedora echo hello

  **oci-archive:**_path_**:**_tag_
  An image in a directory compliant with the "Open Container Image Layout Specification" at the specified _path_
and specified with a _tag_.

    $ podman save --format oci-archive fedora -o /tmp/fedora
    $ podman create oci-archive:/tmp/fedora echo hello

## OPTIONS

@@option add-host

@@option annotation.container

@@option arch

#### **--attach**, **-a**=*location*

Attach to STDIN, STDOUT or STDERR.

In foreground mode (the default when **-d**
is not specified), **podman run** can start the process in the container
and attach the console to the process's standard input, output, and standard
error. It can even pretend to be a TTY (this is what most command line
executables expect) and pass along signals. The **-a** option can be set for
each of stdin, stdout, and stderr.

@@option authfile

@@option blkio-weight

@@option blkio-weight-device

@@option cap-add

@@option cap-drop

@@option cgroup-conf

@@option cgroup-parent

@@option cgroupns

@@option cgroups

@@option chrootdirs

@@option cidfile.write

@@option conmon-pidfile

@@option cpu-period

@@option cpu-quota

@@option cpu-rt-period

@@option cpu-rt-runtime

@@option cpu-shares

@@option cpus.container

@@option cpuset-cpus

@@option cpuset-mems

@@option device

Note: if the user only has access rights via a group, accessing the device
from inside a rootless container will fail. Use the `--group-add keep-groups`
flag to pass the user's supplementary group access into the container.

@@option device-cgroup-rule

@@option device-read-bps

@@option device-read-iops

@@option device-write-bps

@@option device-write-iops

@@option disable-content-trust

#### **--dns**=*dns*

Set custom DNS servers. Invalid if using **--dns** and **--network** that is set to 'none' or `container:<name|id>`.

This option can be used to override the DNS
configuration passed to the container. Typically this is necessary when the
host DNS configuration is invalid for the container (e.g., 127.0.0.1). When this
is the case the **--dns** flag is necessary for every run.

The special value **none** can be specified to disable creation of **/etc/resolv.conf** in the container by Podman.
The **/etc/resolv.conf** file in the image will be used without changes.

@@option dns-opt.container

@@option dns-search.container

@@option entrypoint

#### **--env**, **-e**=*env*

Set environment variables

This option allows arbitrary environment variables that are available for the process to be launched inside of the container. If an environment variable is specified without a value, Podman will check the host environment for a value and set the variable only if it is set on the host. As a special case, if an environment variable ending in __*__ is specified without a value, Podman will search the host environment for variables starting with the prefix and will add those variables to the container.

See [**Environment**](#environment) note below for precedence and examples.

#### **--env-file**=*file*

Read in a line delimited file of environment variables. See **Environment** note below for precedence.

@@option env-host

@@option env-merge

@@option expose

@@option gidmap.container

@@option group-add

@@option health-cmd

@@option health-interval

@@option health-on-failure

@@option health-retries

@@option health-start-period

@@option health-timeout

#### **--help**

Print usage statement

@@option hostname.container

@@option hostuser

@@option http-proxy

@@option image-volume

@@option init

#### **--init-ctr**=*type*

(Pods only).
When using pods, create an init style container, which is run after the infra container is started
but before regular pod containers are started.  Init containers are useful for running
setup operations for the pod's applications.

Valid values for `init-ctr` type are *always* or *once*.  The *always* value
means the container will run with each and every `pod start`, whereas the *once*
value means the container will only run once when the pod is started and then the container is removed.

Init containers are only run on pod `start`.  Restarting a pod will not execute any init
containers should they be present.  Furthermore, init containers can only be created in a
pod when that pod is not running.

@@option init-path

#### **--interactive**, **-i**

Keep STDIN open even if not attached. The default is *false*.

@@option ip

#### **--ip6**=*ipv6*

Specify a static IPv6 address for the container, for example **fd46:db93:aa76:ac37::10**.
This option can only be used if the container is joined to only a single network - i.e., **--network=network-name** is used at most once -
and if the container is not joining another container's network namespace via **--network=container:_id_**.
The address must be within the network's IPv6 address pool.

To specify multiple static IPv6 addresses per container, set multiple networks using the **--network** option with a static IPv6 address specified for each using the `ip6` mode for that option.


@@option ipc

@@option label

@@option label-file

@@option link-local-ip

@@option log-driver

#### **--log-opt**=*name=value*

Set custom logging configuration. The following *name*s are supported:

- **path**: specify a path to the log file
(e.g. **--log-opt path=/var/log/container/mycontainer.json**);

- **max-size**: specify a max size of the log file
(e.g. **--log-opt max-size=10mb**);

- **tag**: specify a custom log tag for the container
(e.g. **--log-opt tag="{{.ImageName}}"**.

It supports the same keys as **podman inspect --format**.

This option is currently supported only by the **journald** log driver.

@@option mac-address

@@option memory

@@option memory-reservation

@@option memory-swap

@@option memory-swappiness

@@option mount

@@option name.container

#### **--network**=*mode*, **--net**

Set the network mode for the container. Invalid if using **--dns**, **--dns-opt**, or **--dns-search** with **--network** set to **none** or **container:**_id_. If used together with **--pod**, the container will not join the pod's network namespace.

Valid _mode_ values are:

- **bridge[:OPTIONS,...]**: Create a network stack on the default bridge. This is the default for rootful containers. It is possible to specify these additional options:
  - **alias=name**: Add network-scoped alias for the container.
  - **ip=IPv4**: Specify a static ipv4 address for this container.
  - **ip=IPv6**: Specify a static ipv6 address for this container.
  - **mac=MAC**: Specify a static mac address for this container.
  - **interface_name**: Specify a name for the created network interface inside the container.

  For example to set a static ipv4 address and a static mac address, use `--network bridge:ip=10.88.0.10,mac=44:33:22:11:00:99`.
- \<network name or ID\>[:OPTIONS,...]: Connect to a user-defined network; this is the network name or ID from a network created by **[podman network create](podman-network-create.1.md)**. Using the network name implies the bridge network mode. It is possible to specify the same options described under the bridge mode above. You can use the **--network** option multiple times to specify additional networks.
- **none**: Create a network namespace for the container but do not configure network interfaces for it, thus the container has no network connectivity.
- **container:**_id_: Reuse another container's network stack.
- **host**: Do not create a network namespace, the container will use the host's network. Note: The host mode gives the container full access to local system services such as D-bus and is therefore considered insecure.
- **ns:**_path_: Path to a network namespace to join.
- **private**: Create a new namespace for the container. This will use the **bridge** mode for rootful containers and **slirp4netns** for rootless ones.
- **slirp4netns[:OPTIONS,...]**: use **slirp4netns**(1) to create a user network stack. This is the default for rootless containers. It is possible to specify these additional options, they can also be set with `network_cmd_options` in containers.conf:
  - **allow_host_loopback=true|false**: Allow the slirp4netns to reach the host loopback IP (`10.0.2.2`). Default is false.
  - **mtu=MTU**: Specify the MTU to use for this network. (Default is `65520`).
  - **cidr=CIDR**: Specify ip range to use for this network. (Default is `10.0.2.0/24`).
  - **enable_ipv6=true|false**: Enable IPv6. Default is true. (Required for `outbound_addr6`).
  - **outbound_addr=INTERFACE**: Specify the outbound interface slirp should bind to (ipv4 traffic only).
  - **outbound_addr=IPv4**: Specify the outbound ipv4 address slirp should bind to.
  - **outbound_addr6=INTERFACE**: Specify the outbound interface slirp should bind to (ipv6 traffic only).
  - **outbound_addr6=IPv6**: Specify the outbound ipv6 address slirp should bind to.
  - **port_handler=rootlesskit**: Use rootlesskit for port forwarding. Default.
  Note: Rootlesskit changes the source IP address of incoming packets to an IP address in the container network namespace, usually `10.0.2.100`. If your application requires the real source IP address, e.g. web server logs, use the slirp4netns port handler. The rootlesskit port handler is also used for rootless containers when connected to user-defined networks.
  - **port_handler=slirp4netns**: Use the slirp4netns port forwarding, it is slower than rootlesskit but preserves the correct source IP address. This port handler cannot be used for user-defined networks.

@@option network-alias

@@option no-healthcheck

@@option no-hosts

This option conflicts with **--add-host**.

@@option oom-kill-disable

@@option oom-score-adj

@@option os.pull

@@option passwd-entry

@@option personality

@@option pid

@@option pidfile

@@option pids-limit

@@option platform

#### **--pod**=*name*

Run container in an existing pod. If you want Podman to make the pod for you, preference the pod name with `new:`.
To make a pod with more granular options, use the `podman pod create` command before creating a container.

@@option pod-id-file.container

@@option privileged

@@option publish

**Note:** If a container will be run within a pod, it is not necessary to publish the port for
the containers in the pod. The port must only be published by the pod itself. Pod network
stacks act like the network stack on the host - you have a variety of containers in the pod,
and programs in the container, all sharing a single interface and IP address, and
associated ports. If one container binds to a port, no other container can use that port
within the pod while it is in use. Containers in the pod can also communicate over localhost
by having one container bind to localhost in the pod, and another connect to that port.

@@option publish-all

@@option pull

#### **--quiet**, **-q**

Suppress output information when pulling images

@@option read-only

@@option read-only-tmpfs

@@option replace

@@option requires

@@option restart

#### **--rm**

Automatically remove the container when it exits. The default is *false*.

@@option rootfs

@@option sdnotify

@@option seccomp-policy

@@option secret

#### **--security-opt**=*option*

Security Options

- `apparmor=unconfined` : Turn off apparmor confinement for the container
- `apparmor=your-profile` : Set the apparmor confinement profile for the container

- `label=user:USER`     : Set the label user for the container processes
- `label=role:ROLE`     : Set the label role for the container processes
- `label=type:TYPE`     : Set the label process type for the container processes
- `label=level:LEVEL`   : Set the label level for the container processes
- `label=filetype:TYPE` : Set the label file type for the container files
- `label=disable`       : Turn off label separation for the container

Note: Labeling can be disabled for all containers by setting label=false in the **containers.conf** (`/etc/containers/containers.conf` or `$HOME/.config/containers/containers.conf`) file.

- `mask=/path/1:/path/2` : The paths to mask separated by a colon. A masked path
  cannot be accessed inside the container.

- `no-new-privileges` : Disable container processes from gaining additional privileges

- `seccomp=unconfined` : Turn off seccomp confinement for the container.
- `seccomp=profile.json` : JSON file to be used as a seccomp filter. Note that the `io.podman.annotations.seccomp` annotation is set with the specified value as shown in `podman inspect`.

- `proc-opts=OPTIONS` : Comma-separated list of options to use for the /proc mount. More details for the
  possible mount options are specified in the **proc(5)** man page.


- **unmask**=_ALL_ or _/path/1:/path/2_, or shell expanded paths (/proc/*): Paths to unmask separated by a colon. If set to **ALL**, it will unmask all the paths that are masked or made read-only by default.
  The default masked paths are **/proc/acpi, /proc/kcore, /proc/keys, /proc/latency_stats, /proc/sched_debug, /proc/scsi, /proc/timer_list, /proc/timer_stats, /sys/firmware, and /sys/fs/selinux.**  The default paths that are read-only are **/proc/asound, /proc/bus, /proc/fs, /proc/irq, /proc/sys, /proc/sysrq-trigger, /sys/fs/cgroup**.

Note: Labeling can be disabled for all containers by setting label=false in the **containers.conf** (`/etc/containers/containers.conf` or `$HOME/.config/containers/containers.conf`) file.

#### **--shm-size**=*size*

Size of `/dev/shm` (format: `<number>[<unit>]`, where unit = b (bytes), k (kibibytes), m (mebibytes), or g (gibibytes))
If you omit the unit, the system uses bytes. If you omit the size entirely, the system uses `64m`.
When size is `0`, there is no limit on the amount of memory used for IPC by the container.

@@option stop-signal

@@option stop-timeout

@@option subgidname

@@option subuidname

@@option sysctl

@@option systemd

@@option timeout

@@option tls-verify

@@option tmpfs

#### **--tty**, **-t**

Allocate a pseudo-TTY. The default is *false*.

When set to true Podman will allocate a pseudo-tty and attach to the standard
input of the container. This can be used, for example, to run a throwaway
interactive shell. The default is false.

Note: The **-t** option is incompatible with a redirection of the Podman client
standard input.

@@option tz

@@option uidmap.container

@@option ulimit

@@option umask

@@option unsetenv

@@option unsetenv-all

#### **--user**, **-u**=*user*

Sets the username or UID used and optionally the groupname or GID for the specified command.

The following examples are all valid:
--user [user | user:group | uid | uid:gid | user:gid | uid:group ]

Without this argument the command will be run as root in the container.

@@option userns.container

@@option uts.container

#### **--variant**=*VARIANT*
Use _VARIANT_ instead of the default architecture variant of the container image. Some images can use multiple variants of the arm architectures, such as arm/v5 and arm/v7.

@@option volume

Use the **--group-add keep-groups** option to pass the user's supplementary group access into the container.

@@option volumes-from

@@option workdir

## EXAMPLES

### Create a container using a local image

```
$ podman create alpine ls
```

### Create a container using a local image and annotate it

```
$ podman create --annotation HELLO=WORLD alpine ls
```

### Create a container using a local image, allocating a pseudo-TTY, keeping stdin open and name it myctr

```
  podman create -t -i --name myctr alpine ls
```

### Set UID/GID mapping in a new user namespace

Running a container in a new user namespace requires a mapping of
the uids and gids from the host.

```
$ podman create --uidmap 0:30000:7000 --gidmap 0:30000:7000 fedora echo hello
```

### Setting automatic user namespace separated containers

```
# podman create --userns=auto:size=65536 ubi8-init
```

### Configure timezone in a container

```
$ podman create --tz=local alpine date
$ podman create --tz=Asia/Shanghai alpine date
$ podman create --tz=US/Eastern alpine date
```

### Adding dependency containers

Podman will make sure the first container, container1, is running before the second container (container2) is started.

```
$ podman create --name container1 -t -i fedora bash
$ podman create --name container2 --requires container1 -t -i fedora bash
$ podman start --attach container2
```

Multiple containers can be required.

```
$ podman create --name container1 -t -i fedora bash
$ podman create --name container2 -t -i fedora bash
$ podman create --name container3 --requires container1,container2 -t -i fedora bash
$ podman start --attach container3
```

### Configure keep supplemental groups for access to volume

```
$ podman create -v /var/lib/design:/var/lib/design --group-add keep-groups ubi8
```

### Configure execution domain for containers using personality flag

```
$ podman create --name container1 --personality=LINUX32 fedora bash
```

### Create a container with external rootfs mounted as an overlay

```
$ podman create --name container1 --rootfs /path/to/rootfs:O bash
```

### Create a container connected to two networks (called net1 and net2) with a static ip

```
$ podman create --network net1:ip=10.89.1.5 --network net2:ip=10.89.10.10 alpine ip addr
```

### Rootless Containers

Podman runs as a non-root user on most systems. This feature requires that a new enough version of shadow-utils
be installed. The shadow-utils package must include the newuidmap and newgidmap executables.

In order for users to run rootless, there must be an entry for their username in /etc/subuid and /etc/subgid which lists the UIDs for their user namespace.

Rootless Podman works better if the fuse-overlayfs and slirp4netns packages are installed.
The fuse-overlayfs package provides a userspace overlay storage driver, otherwise users need to use
the vfs storage driver, which is diskspace expensive and does not perform well. slirp4netns is
required for VPN, without it containers need to be run with the --network=host flag.

## ENVIRONMENT

Environment variables within containers can be set using multiple different options:  This section describes the precedence.

Precedence order (later entries override earlier entries):

- **--env-host** : Host environment of the process executing Podman is added.
- **--http-proxy**: By default, several environment variables will be passed in from the host, such as **http_proxy** and **no_proxy**. See **--http-proxy** for details.
- Container image : Any environment variables specified in the container image.
- **--env-file** : Any environment variables specified via env-files. If multiple files specified, then they override each other in order of entry.
- **--env** : Any environment variables specified will override previous settings.

Create containers and set the environment ending with a __*__.
The trailing __*__ glob functionality is only active when no value is specified:

```
$ export ENV1=a
$ podman create --name ctr1 --env 'ENV*' alpine env
$ podman start --attach ctr1 | grep ENV
ENV1=a
$ podman create --name ctr2 --env 'ENV*=b' alpine env
$ podman start --attach ctr2 | grep ENV
ENV*=b
```

## CONMON

When Podman starts a container it actually executes the conmon program, which
then executes the OCI Runtime.  Conmon is the container monitor.  It is a small
program whose job is to watch the primary process of the container, and if the
container dies, save the exit code.  It also holds open the tty of the
container, so that it can be attached to later. This is what allows Podman to
run in detached mode (backgrounded), so Podman can exit but conmon continues to
run.  Each container has their own instance of conmon. Conmon waits for the
container to exit, gathers and saves the exit code, and then launches a Podman
process to complete the container cleanup, by shutting down the network and
storage.   For more information on conmon, please reference the conmon(8) man
page.

## FILES

**/etc/subuid**
**/etc/subgid**

NOTE: Use the environment variable `TMPDIR` to change the temporary storage location of downloaded container images. Podman defaults to use `/var/tmp`.

## SEE ALSO
**[podman(1)](podman.1.md)**, **[podman-save(1)](podman-save.1.md)**, **[podman-ps(1)](podman-ps.1.md)**, **[podman-attach(1)](podman-attach.1.md)**, **[podman-pod-create(1)](podman-pod-create.1.md)**, **[podman-port(1)](podman-port.1.md)**, **[podman-start(1)](podman-start.1.md)**, **[podman-kill(1)](podman-kill.1.md)**, **[podman-stop(1)](podman-stop.1.md)**, **[podman-generate-systemd(1)](podman-generate-systemd.1.md)**, **[podman-rm(1)](podman-rm.1.md)**, **[subgid(5)](https://www.unix.com/man-page/linux/5/subgid)**, **[subuid(5)](https://www.unix.com/man-page/linux/5/subuid)**, **[containers.conf(5)](https://github.com/containers/common/blob/main/docs/containers.conf.5.md)**, **[systemd.unit(5)](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.unit.html)**, **[setsebool(8)](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/setsebool.8.html)**, **[slirp4netns(1)](https://github.com/rootless-containers/slirp4netns/blob/master/slirp4netns.1.md)**, **[fuse-overlayfs(1)](https://github.com/containers/fuse-overlayfs/blob/main/fuse-overlayfs.1.md)**, **proc(5)**, **[conmon(8)](https://github.com/containers/conmon/blob/main/docs/conmon.8.md)**, **personality(2)**

## HISTORY
October 2017, converted from Docker documentation to Podman by Dan Walsh for Podman `<dwalsh@redhat.com>`

November 2014, updated by Sven Dowideit `<SvenDowideit@home.org.au>`

September 2014, updated by Sven Dowideit `<SvenDowideit@home.org.au>`

August 2014, updated by Sven Dowideit `<SvenDowideit@home.org.au>`

## FOOTNOTES
<a name="Footnote1">1</a>: The Podman project is committed to inclusivity, a core value of open source. The `master` and `slave` mount propagation terminology used here is problematic and divisive, and should be changed. However, these terms are currently used within the Linux kernel and must be used as-is at this time. When the kernel maintainers rectify this usage, Podman will follow suit immediately.